Find the biggest screen you’re able to , because this image deserve to be seen in its full 2 - billion - pixel aureole .
Theimagewas free by the European Southern Observatory ( ESO ) and captures in incredible detail NGC 6334 and NGC 6357 , known as the Cat ’s Paw and Lobster Nebula . The image is 49,511 x 39,136 pixels and it ’s one of the largest images ever resign by ESO . Azoomable versionis available .
The objects , place 5,500 and 8,000 light - year from Earth respectively , were first seen by British stargazer John Herschel in 1837 , although he could only correct the bright toepads . It took decades for their shape to become clear , which is when they got their nickname .
Astronomical instruments have improved importantly since then and we can now see these nebulae better than ever before . The 256 - megapixel OmegaCAM that photographed the nebulae is in particular sensible to a neighborhood of seeable luminousness where the emission of hydrogen is very substantial .
These jumbo gas clouds are made mostly of hydrogen and are shrouding hot young hotshot that are 10 meter great than the Sun . They let loose a lot of ultraviolet light , which is absorbed by the hydrogen and then re - emit as a mystifying - red Inner Light .
To even begin to see the one thousand of young stars hiding inside the Cat ’s Paw , we involve to move even further down the longer wavelength side of the light spectrum . ESO has previously used theirinfrared capabilitiesto look at NGC 6334 , bring out a different side to the Nebula . The paws are but a nimbus and many more star are of a sudden in prospect .
Unfortunately , multiwavelength astronomy ca n’t be done for every astronomical object due to time and pecuniary constraints . But when it ’s possible , we can suddenly see a racy , more complex Earth .
reference : ESO
Highlights from the Cat ’s Paw and Lobster Nebulae . Credit : ESO
